Journey to Easter

Journey to Easter

There are only a few days left until the great feast of Easter.

Friday 12 April we began the great pilgrimage of young people. Every 2 years, around Palm Sunday, we organize a large (and long!) Pilgrimage for the youth of the Parish. This year we went to Bahoyo, a small village 48 km away, on the road from Bozoum to Bouar.

We were about 300 pilgrims: children, young people, mothers, fathers. We gathered in the church, and after a short prayer we left. Fortunately the sky was overcast, and so had  better walking conditions. We did a part of the journey in prayer (Via Crucis, Rosario, songs ...) and at a good pace we arrived in the village of Bouforo around 6.15 pm, about 4 and a half hours per 24 km!

Here the pilgrims spent the night, welcomed in the various canopies, houses and under the trees, and after a quick dinner, a brief rest awaited them. I drove back to Bozoum for the night, and returned to Bouforo the next day at 5.30am. We left together, and after an hour and a half in the savannah, we took the main road again. The sky was still overcast, and the rain was approaching, it reached us at 8:30 when we were near Kounde.  We walked in the rain for 2 hours, and we were completely wet when we finally arrived, around 10.30 in Bahoyo.

Here the kitchen team was already at work, and among the schools and the chapel we were able to at least change ourselves and to put something dry on it (for those who had it available).

The afternoon, after a bit of well-deserved rest, provided a time for Confessions. And the next day, Sunday, the great Palms procession, which winded through the village.

Saturday at the end of the morning we returned to Bozoum, also to be present for the Confessions. On Sunday morning we also celebrated the Feast of Palms. Like the inhabitants of Jerusalem, we acclaimed Jesus and in procession we entered the church.

Mass was deeply felt, also because it introduced us to Holy Week.

In the afternoon, with 2 trucks, the pilgrims returned to Bozoum.

For all a great Easter journey!

"God died and we killed him: this phrase is taken almost literally from the Christian tradition and we often repeated something similar in our Viae Crucis without feeling the terrible gravity of what we were saying. We killed him, enclosing him in the stale shell of habitual thoughts, exiling him in a matter of sentences or archaeological preciousness. When the storm has passed, we will realize how little our faith was full of foolishness. And yet, oh Lord, we cannot help but shake you, God you are silent and sleep, and cry out: wake up, don't you see that we sink? Wake up, don't let the darkness of Holy Saturday last forever. Let a ray of Easter fall even on our days. Join us as we move desperately towards Emmaus, so that our hearts may light up near you ”. (Joseph Ratzinger)

Happy Easter!

camminando sotto la pioggia
en marchant sous la pluie

il ritorno
le retour

Domenica delle Palme
Dimanche des Rameaux

Il fiume, inquinato dalla ditta che estrae l'oro (15 aprile 2019)
le fleuve à Bozoum, pollué par l'entreprise qui extait l'or (15 vril 2019)

Too much wealth?

 

Too much wealth?

As is life, this week there were moments of grief and others of hope.

Last Friday Yves Woko died in Bangui, he was one of our teachers: 73 years old, a lifelong teacher (first in the ranks of the state, and for the last 20 years in our Bozoum school). A righteous man, full of faith and gratitude for everything, even though life was quite hard on him.

Saturday morning I went to the river Ouham, to try to understand if the Ministry's decision to suspend all the gold extraction activities by the Chinese company was respected or not. Arriving half a mile from the river, you could already hear the sounds of the machinery. I walked the coast of the river for more than a mile along the construction site. It was awesome! They diverted the river water with a 4 meter wide channel, and 4 bulldozers were loading all the gravel and sand from the bottom onto a machine to sift and extract the gold. No checks, no attention from the authorities. The yards are developed for at least ten kilometers. The country's resources, which could be used for its development, are stolen without shame, and leave deep scars, not only in the river bed.

I wonder (and unfortunately I already know the answer), whether the decision of the ministry is a serious act, or is it simply a facade operation.

Monday I left for Bocaranga (passing through Bouar). The Bishop asked me to go with him, Tuesday, to the Koui area, where the 3R rebels have taken up residence for 4 years. The lands are rich in water and vegetation, and for this very reason rich in pastures and livestock. Perhaps too rich: here hundreds of thousands of cows are located, and this generates tensions between cattle farmers and agricultural farmers, but also between different ethnic groups.

In recent years there have been many episodes of violence, and people have often had to flee. We found a village, Lobaye, on the road between Bouar and Bocaranga, where there are about 500 people who come from Koui.

Tuesday morning we went to Boyay Wantonou, a village about ten kilometers from Koui, for a meeting of prayer and of reconciliation. Besides the Bishop, there were also the Protestant imams and pastors (and the mayor was also present, as well as Sidiki, the rebel leader). It was a moment of intense prayer and sharing, which slowly turned into a beautiful party.

In the afternoon we had a similar experience to Koui: a village where typical buildings are mixed, with more Chadian or Sudanese ones, and with a small and beautiful mosque. Just as we prayed, the rain came as a blessing.

I am here as Caritas, to try to understand the needs and see what can be done. The needs are many, we are in a part of the country that is almost abandoned (there is only one state teacher for 20 schools. The other 42 teachers are all "maîtres-parents": young people and adults who have taken the commitment to teach something to children).

Rifugiati nel villaggio di Lobaye
Déplacés dans le village de Lobaye

 

P.Robert, ecc
P.Robert, etc

Preghiera per la pace
Prière pour la piax
Prayer for peace

Yves Woko

6 aprile 2019: un cantiere per l'oro
6 avril 2019: un des chaniters pour l'extraction de l'or

Moving Forward!

Moving Forward!

Lent’s journey continues as we prepare the catechumens for baptism.  This will occur on Easter with the community accompanying them in prayer. Among other things is the Via Crucis: a very heartfelt journey retracing the path of the Passion of Jesus, along the 14 stations, in we will meditate on the steps of the Man of Sorrows.

Saturday and Sunday the Parish organizes a small Forum for our youth, in preparation for the next Pilgrimage, which will take place in 2 weeks (48 km on foot, up to Bahoyo).

On Monday afternoon we delivered the second term report cards to the students of our Lycée St.Augustin. It is with pleasure that I noticed that the girls are mark have gotten much better: in more classes they finally have achieved the highest marks!

Also moving forward is the work of the Chinese company that is extracting gold in the surrounding areas of Bozoum! Despite the decision of the Minister, the works have resumed, even if a little silenced (at night, or on the most distant sites). Complicity? Effrontery? Just Friday, during the Mass for the anniversary of the death of the first president of Central Africa (Barthélemy Boganda), I explained to the community the big problem of indiscriminate excavation, pollution and theft of raw materials by the Chinese company. The Prefect was present, who did not flinch. Complicity?

In these days Paolo Silvestro is completing the layout of the French version of the book "Coraggio!”

Courage!

Via Crucis

Forum dei giovani
Forum des jeunes

la consegna delle pagelle
la remise des bulltins du 2è trimestre

la copertina della versione in francese di "Coraggio"
la couverture de l'édition en français

Life and death

Le clarisse accompagnano p.Toussaint con il canto
les Clarisses accompagnent avec le chant le p.Toussaint

Life and death

Last week a Capuchin brother, Fr. Toussaint Zoumalde, was killed in Cameroon, in Ngaoundere, most likely during a robbery.  I knew him well: years ago he was in the seminary in Bouar, where I worked for 11 years. It was a sudden death: on the one hand it reminds us of our fragility, and on the other the fragility of security in our country. On Friday, March 23rd, we celebrated his funeral, in the cathedral of Bouar, where he was ordained in 2002. The church was full (p.Toussaint was originally from Bouar, and worked for many years for Radio Siriri), and we were about sixty priests , together with the bishop, who gathered to pray for our brother. Just yesterday, Wednesday March 27, Pope Francis presented a sister (a missionary in Africa for 60 years!), and said: "I intend to express my gratitude to you and all the missionaries, priests, religious and laity, who scatter the seeds of the Kingdom of God in every part of the world. Your job is great. You "burn" your life sowing the word of God with your testimony ... And in this world you do not make news, you are not news in the newspapers ". Returning to Bozoum, in the afternoon a small tornado was unleashed: very strong wind, dust, and then, finally, rain. It was awesome to see nature go wild! Thank God there were not too many disasters: some flying sheets, some destroyed thatched roof, but no victims. Monday I went down to Bangui, to then return to Bozoum on Wednesday, where I found a nice surprise: the Minister of Mining suspended all gold mining activities in Bozoum! And for three days the construction sites have stopped! It is a first, small victory, and we hope that actually Chinese companies are obliged to respect the rules, and to fix the damage they have done.

We will see, and we will check!

Il decreto del Ministero che blocca le attività inerarie delle ditte cinesi
Le décret du Ministère qui bloque les activités minières des entreprises chinoises

piccolo tornado in arrivo
petite tornade

il nostro Liceo, visto da uno degli alunni
notre Lycée, vu par un de nos élèves